The Sidney Volunteer Fire Department now has a new squad truck that will be used for several special tasks.
The 2005 Ford F-550 truck has a pump and a tank, and Sidney Fire Chief Brett Mikkelsen says it will be a Swiss Army knife for the department.
“We needed a vehicle that was capable of towing a marina fire protection trailer,” Mikkelsen said. “We were towing it with a pickup truck, and that was marginal. Our department now doesn’t require any more vehicles.”
The vehicle will also be tasked with towing Saanich Peninsula Confined Space Rescue Team and Emergency Support Services trailers.
The truck is designed as a wildfire response truck, but that will not be its primary use.
“It will retain that functionality though,” Mikkelsen said. “That’s obviously needed. If we’re tasked with responding to a wildfire or a beach fire in Sidney, it will be an appropriate vehicle.”
The truck is around a month away from being in service.
“There’s going to be a bit of a process to tailor it to our uses,” Mikkelsen said. “We need to change the emergency lighting. It doesn’t have our radios in it or decals on it.”
The budget to purchase the vehicle and get it in service was approximately $100,000.
“The cost of a new truck with a pump and everything would be about $220,000 to $250,000.”
The truck was purchased and picked up in Tucson, AZ.
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